KL Weekend Getaway ... Day 2 (Part 1)

Today we had made a few plans on places to see and things to do. But first on the agenda was to go and get our tummies filled with yummy food. :P Breakfast was ok, i'm normally not fussy about my food. Darcy made a few comments on the scrambled eggs (again) and i understand that scrambled eggs is not the common Asian dish, so it probably wasn't done the way he is used to have it. Just like i probably and most likely will comment on how Asian food is prepared in Canada :)

After breakfast, we headed out to Tugu Negara (National Monument) before meeting Meiling to go to Petaling Street and Chinatown to do some shopping. Shopping. Now that's the word that is music to any woman's ears. :P *heehee* Since Sing dollars are slightly more than double the M'sian ringgit, shopping at Petaling Street will be fun and challenging cos prices can be haggled to something that both customers and sellers can agree on. :) I guess with this kind of shopping, the thrill is to be able to haggle the price down as low as you can and be able to seal the deal. :P Something Darcy pointed out as well.

BUT ... i digress.

So there we were standing at the hotel entrance waiting for a taxi to come by when a guy walked over from our left and asked us if we were waiting for a taxi. We said yes and i told him we were heading to Tugu Negara, he thought about it for a moment an then asked if RM$10 was ok with us. That's less than S$5. So yeah we agreed to his fare and hopped on.

(There are two ways the taxi drivers in Malaysia work in general...

they either go by the meter or they quote you a price,

you haggle, you accept and you get on.)

It was about a 10min ride from the hotel to Tugu Negara and as we got out of the taxi, the taxi driver mentioned it was hard to get a taxi out from here. But i figured that we would be spending quite a while here and i didn't want him to wait, come back and find out we're being charged for the 1hr he had stayed there waiting. So i politely declined his offer.

Tugu Negara or National Monument "was built to recognise and honour those who gave up their lives in the cause for peace and freedom, particularly during the nation's struggle against the threat of Communism (the period of Emergency)."


There was a class of students that were taking a day excursion.

Fine, hot morning.

Darcy doing some reflection in front of the "reflecting pool".

As we were walking around the monument and me snapping away with the digicam, Darcy pointed out that the monument looked vaguely familiar -

Ee : It looks Americanised, doesn't it?

Dar : Yeah, you noticed it too?



Ee : *smiling* Yeah i did as we walked in and i also know why.
*smiling at the screen of my digicam aimed at one part at the base of the monument*



Ee : *smiling at Dar as he walks over* I think it's designed by an American.

Not too sure if you can read the words here but this shows that i was right and that the monument was designed by an American sculptor. :) Which i found really really ironic and somewhat amusing. For obvious reasons. :P

We lingered around a lil while longer so i could take some more photos so here are some other shots i took around the monument ground.

Entrance to the monument ground.


The fountain just before you reach the monument.


The architechtural design the lined the entrance walls.


Kids playing.
Now how can i go on a holiday and not take photos of kids eh? :)


Man in Shades. :P


"To Our Glorious Dead"


Darcy trying to be intimidating? :P

As we walked out from the monument ground we noticed that there were some contemporary art sculptures. While looking at the sculptures, Darcy mentioned that some of the sculptures don't make sense to him or at least he couldn't see the significance behind the sculpture. Which was when i pulled out my favourite line when it comes to any art piece/ art work - "Art is very subjective. If it calls out to you or you can identify with it, then that is art to you. If not, then to you that is not art." *heehee*

When we decided we wanted to leave, i gave Meiling a call to confirm the time and place to meet her. This was while we were walking out and down to the main road and after i hung up with Meiling, i asked Darcy if he wanted to go to Lake Garden (aka Taman Tasik Perdana ) which was just across the road from Tugu Negara.

Dar : *thought about it for a moment* What's in there?

Ee : A garden. You take a nice stroll and enjoy the greens.

Dar : In this weather.

Ee : Yep.

Dar : No, thanks. I think i'll pass.

*giggles* Darcy wasn't used to the weather it's still too hot and humid for him. :) *heehee* So what did we do in the next 2 hours after we managed to flag a cab to Petaling Street? *giggles* We sat down inside an Internet cafe checking emails, chatting to one another on msn (even though we were sitting side by side) and just passing time. Of course, we didn't realise that there were two sections to the cafe - smoking and non-smoking sections. So for the first 1 hr we sat in the smoking section, not knowing that it was a smoking section. It was only when some guy came in and started smoking that we decided to leave and as we were walking to the cashier to pay, i noticed the other section of the cafe and a note that printed in bold the words "non-smoking section".... DUH me! *heehee* Anyways, this Internet Cafe has really good cheap rates cos for both terminals for 2 hours we only paid RM$12 which is equivalent to S$5+! Darn cheap! And the connection wasn't bad at all and i had to chase Darcy off the pc cos he was still typing emails and we had to meet Meiling soon. :P And Darcy is going to make a comment that i wanted to leave cos all the European cuties that were there had left and i had no more eye candy. :P

As we walked down Petaling Street to meet Meiling, we got hungry and decided to drop by the nearest food place we could see within sight and had airconditioning - McDs! *giggles* I wasn't really hungrie for some reason, maybe cos i had a heavy heavy breakfast but Darcy was hungrie. Meiling joined us a while later and after filling our tum tums we headed out into the heat and our started the shopping adventure. Well i should say my shopping adventure cos Darcy didn't buy anything and it was just me and Meiling who were walking around actually buying stuff. :) heehee.

I felt really lucky to have Meiling with me cos she's local and she speaks cantonese. I understand Cantonese but i can't converse in it. So Darcy would see her asking how much the price was for an item after i have expressed interest in it, the store owner quote us a price in Cantonese which i understood and then i would tell her it's either too high or reasonable and offer a price i think it should be sold at. *heehee* Yes the art of bargaining is alway so much fun. Esp. if the store owners are guys and two females starts to haggle and bargain with him. :P *Heehee* Darcy kept getting asked if he wanted to buy watches and we kept walking by this stall selling Durians. :P Remember that one, Dar? :P *heehee*

Once i had my fill, we headed out of Petaling Street and i mentioned that it was getting crowded as the middle of this stretch of road was now occupied with stalls and booths as well. No more than 2 mins after i said that, the stall owners started to pack their wares so fast that in less than 5 mins all the stalls and booths in the middle of the road was cleared. It looked very much like it came from a scene in those HK movies in a police raid! Which was exactly what happened, the stall and booth owners received a tip off that the police was heading their way for a raid and hightailed out of there. :P It was interesting. *grin* *Heehee* All three of us had to duck into the stores on the side to avoid being run over by them as the flee the scene. I must admit it was such a rush, i've not seen a police raid before. :P *heehee* So yeah that was an experience for both of us. :)

We then took a short walk to another mall which sold all sorts of touristie barang barang (malay for goods and items) and bought some stuff for Darcy's friends and family and he even bought a chongkak for himself.

This is how a game of chongkak is played.

We first saw it at the tourist stores at Tugu Negara and it was hanging on the wall which made it hard for me to explain and show Darcy how the game was played. Over there at the mall, it was lying on the ground with the glass marbles in it so i showed him how the game was played and he was intrigued enough to buy it for himself. :) I don't remember the name of the mall... will have to ask Meiling again.

We then took a bus to Sungei Wang Shopping Complex to walk around and shop some more. *giggles* So yeah basically today's activity was :shopping: :eating: :walking:. At one point in time i was standing outside a store with Darcy while waiting for Meiling to finish her shopping. While we waited for her, Darcy mentioned that a couple of times he noticed that people we giving him weird looks and some were almost full on stares or glares. I on the other hand didn't care what they think as long as i was happy and i've not done anything wrong.

Next up : Continuation of the day of meet the aunts, my cuzzie Ellie, Dataran Medaka Square & The Hotel Bar of Corus Hotel.